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Yes, you are correct, it is too late to be talking about spring bulbs as they should all be in the ground by now but the question, which is answered below, is so frequently asked of growers that it was decided to touch briefly on bulbs.
Bulbs in Heathcote should be planted from late April to late May. All the packets you buy have suitable planting instructions and spring bulbs are very forgiving beasts. However, the bulbs on sale in the nurseries and at other dubious retail outlets are presented for sale far too early. It is almost a horticultural crime. The soil for planting is too warm and the bulbs have possibly been lifted and dried too early. A proportion of bulbs for sale have been imported from Holland so are in an out of season tail spin which can cause them to go soft leading to disappointment for the grower.
Remove spent flowers but please, please, do not cut the leaves or tie them up in those demented knots. The leaves provide the nutrient by photosynthesis for the next seasons flowering and will be dead by about December when you can remove them. Try putting a tight rubber band around your thumb. Not pretty and it is the same for your bulbs!
The advice below is from Paul Hoek of NZ Bulbs. Check out his website at www.nzbulbs.co.nz/. All the bulbs, lilies, dahlias etc sold from this catalogue are grown in New Zealand. The tulips are from van Eden Tulips in Winton. These bulbs are beautiful quality and proof that you only get what you pay for. They last for years giving so much joy that the cost does not even become a distant memory.
Flowering your bulbs at a specific time
Spring flowering bulbs
To make them flower later, you can't just plant them later. These bulbs require the winter chilling in the soil and have to be planted in autumn. Planting them in March or in May makes little difference to the final flowering time, as it is more dependent on how cold the winter is, how much rain there is, and how early or late spring comes. It is also hugely dependent on where you are in New Zealand. While we have good experience of when the different bulbs flower for us here in Heathcote, we can only guess what is normal for your area.
The only way you can make them later than normal is to plant them in pots and then hold them in a chiller, progressively lowering the temperature from 9° C to zero degrees C over a period of 10 weeks. Then hold them at zero and take them from the chiller 2-3 weeks before you want them in full flower.
To make spring flowering bulbs flower earlier, you can use the chilling method above, and simply take them out early rather than late. But a minimum of 12 weeks total chilling is needed, so you can't have them flowering in May. You can also get your spring flowering bulbs to flower earlier by placing the bulbs in the chiller as they are, not planted up in pots. This has to be done at about 4°C. Do this in March and then plant them out in late May. The bulbs will think they have had a winter and will roar into growth, flowering about 3-4 weeks ahead of normal.
Summer flowering bulbs
Summer flowering bulbs are a little bit easier to manipulate, as they do not require the cold period to trigger their flowering. To make them flower earlier or later, you can plant them earlier or later, from July right up to Christmas if you can keep the bulbs in good condition up to that time.
The eventual difference in flowering time will not be as great as the variation in planting time from July to December. This is because soil and growing conditions are cold in July - September, and bulbs planted at that time will progress much more slowly than bulbs planted in October/November. Likewise, bulbs planted in December will flower much more quickly as they are doing all their growing in warm soil and summer temperatures.
Nevertheless, planting from July to December will see a spread of flowering over probably 2-3 months.
Garden Implements and Tools
 Winter is the best time to check these honest uncomplaining workers out and buff them up with a little TLC ready for the coming season. To begin. Can you find them? Are they still sitting in the garden where you left them or flung in the back of a shed clogged with mud and other detritus?
Scrape them clean with a wire brush or heavy duty steel pad. Handles and all. For your poor abused secateurs, pruning saw and loppers soak in warm water with a little liquid soap or even better a splash of vinegar. Scrub them clean with a heavy wire pad, rinse and dry. That gets rid of the icky sticky goo that clings to the blades. Now get a bit of old towel, slosh some linseed or neat's-foot oil on it then rub the entire tool with this. It is so easy to keep this oily rag in a lidded container handy to your tool storage and a quick swipe after use will pay huge rewards.
Sharpen your hand tools, then sharpen and set your saws ready for the pruning season coming up in about a month. If you cannot do your own it is best to take them to a professional as listed in the Yellow Pages. Especially saws as they have all the correct gear for setting etc. Your local butcher will often be happy to sharpen hand tools and he makes an excellent job. Do the kitchen knives as well. Really sharp, clean, tools make the job much easier and give a nice clean cut without fear of disease or stem damage. Blunt tools chomp and crush as though you had attacked the poor plant with a set of ancient false teeth.
Good tools are not easy to buy now unless you go for top dollar which is the only way. Divide the cost by the years of work you should get out of the tool and it is more than affordable. Second hand shops and the Riccarton Market often have very good tools, mostly English with fantastic handles and still in good repair. As for ladies tools. They are close to useless! Ladies who garden do not wear white gloves and Queen Mother Hats, so don't patronise them with useless rubbish.
An excellent hand tool, well, probably the best, is a Niwashi hand weeder. There are right and left hand models. Go to www.trademe.co.nz/ and put Niwashi in the search or www.ashtonglen.co.nz/. It's one of the better inventions since the demise of the Wilkinson Sword Steel Swoe in New Zealand. Price may make your eyes water though.
Roses
Available in nurseries now and ready to plant. For an enormous range of older type roses such as Bourbons, David Austen etc have a look at www.tbr.co.nz/. There are no pictures, but the range is huge. South Pacific Roses in Shands Road always have good stock. My suggestions? Mutabilis and Blackberry Nip.
Seeds and Bedding
Iceland Poppies.the Ivor Collection which were featured in the NZ Gardener in February 2007 are available in troughs from Clovelly Gardens, Hume Street, Waltham. They will be well worth the effort but remember, Iceland Poppies resent root disturbance so transplant with care.
Grow a new bulb. Get some seed of the Tigridia or Jockeys Caps. Go to www.trademe.co.nz/ and put Tigridia in the search. You will find there is a supplier in Christchurch who is selling seed. The flower only lasts a day but is replaced each day. Easy to grow, full sun, good drainage, something different.
Be up to or ahead of fashion and get some dahlias from NZ Bulbs. They are such rewarding summer perennials. Christchurch Botanic Gardens have a magnificent display bed in summer.
Finally don't stamp about on the wet soil in your garden. Very bad for the soil structure.
Here is a thought for you all until next time:
The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age.
Lucille Ball
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